Bolivia Attorney General Mariaca Detained; His Office Calls It Illegal
BOLIVIA · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The arrest Police detained Attorney General Roger Mariaca and Santa Cruz chief prosecutor Alberto Zeballos at Viru Viru airport on the night of 30 September 2026 (Opinión).
- —Who acted The Bolivian Police carried out the arrests, and a police investigation unit known as CEIP entered the prosecutors’ headquarters in Sucre that night (Opinión, RPP).
- —Who ordered it By early 1 October, no court, prosecutor or minister had said who ordered the arrests or on what charges (Opinión, El Comercio).
- —The response The Public Prosecutor’s Office, which Mariaca heads, called the detention illegal and a kidnapping, and said it did not know the reason.
- —The background On 28 September the US State Department accused Mariaca of taking bribes to help drug traffickers; he rejects the accusation.
Bolivia attorney general Roger Mariaca is in police custody, and no court, prosecutor or minister has said who ordered his arrest.
Police in Bolivia detained Attorney General Roger Mariaca and Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos at Viru Viru airport on 30 September 2026. Bolivia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which Mariaca heads, called the detention illegal and a kidnapping.
An arrest inside the airport terminal
Mariaca and Zeballos flew from Sucre to Santa Cruz on Wednesday evening. Officers stopped them inside Viru Viru International Airport, the main airport of Santa Cruz, Opinión reported.
Mariaca is the Fiscal General del Estado, the attorney general who leads Bolivia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office. Zeballos heads that office in Santa Cruz, the eastern region around Bolivia’s largest city.
Opinión, a daily based in Cochabamba, first reported the arrests at 11:06 p.m. Bolivia time, or 03:06 UTC on Thursday. It cited official sources speaking to La Razón, a newspaper in La Paz.
Police carried out the arrests, but no one has named the order
The Bolivian Police carried out the operation, the Peruvian daily El Comercio and Opinión reported. The national police force answers to the Ministry of Government, Bolivia’s interior ministry.
By the early hours of Thursday, no authority had said who ordered the arrests. No court, judge or prosecutor had been named, and no charges had been announced.
At 12:23 a.m. Bolivia time on 1 October, Opinión said the ordering authority and the men’s whereabouts were still unknown.
El Comercio wrote that neither the government, the police nor any minister had explained the arrests. The government of President Rodrigo Paz, in office since November 2025, had not commented.
Hours earlier, presidential spokesman José Luis Gálvez said Bolivia had formally asked Washington for its evidence against Mariaca. He declined to give an official view until that information arrived, Opinión reported.
Police enter the prosecutors’ headquarters in Sucre
Later that night, police entered the headquarters of the attorney general’s office in Sucre. Sucre is Bolivia’s constitutional capital and the seat of its highest courts.
Officers from CEIP, a specialised police investigation unit, carried out the operation, Opinión and RPP reported. Staff inside had called a press conference to denounce Mariaca’s arrest.
Police kept reporters outside, so the office’s communications team began a live broadcast on its Facebook page. Staff said in the broadcast that Mariaca was held without any warrant being shown.
During the broadcast, a police colonel told the employees they were being arrested, not formally detained in a criminal case. Officers said the staff were inside a public building after office hours, and then led them out, Opinión reported.
The Prosecutor’s Office calls it illegal
The Public Prosecutor’s Office, known in Bolivia as the Ministerio Público, rejected the whole operation. Claudia Pardo, its head of communications, said the police action was being carried out illegally, El Comercio reported.
Another official in the broadcast spoke of “the kidnapping of our attorney general” and a violation of human rights. Staff said they did not know why Mariaca had been taken.
They also said police were searching the building illegally. The employees called on prosecutors across the country to help them “safeguard legality”, Opinión reported.
The US accusation two days earlier
The arrests came two days after Washington accused Mariaca of corruption. On 28 September the US State Department said he solicited and accepted bribes to facilitate drug trafficking.
That designation bars him and his close family from entering the United States. Zeballos was among twelve Bolivians whose US visas were revoked the same day.
Our earlier reports cover the attorney general’s US case and the list of 28 September.
Mariaca rejected the accusations on Monday. He called the US move interference and political pressure linked to his office’s investigations, El Comercio reported.
He pointed to his office’s case against Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political consultant and former adviser to President Paz, RPP reported. No Bolivian court has convicted Mariaca of any crime.
The Marset thread and a second reported arrest
Bolivian reporting links the US case to Sebastián Marset, a Uruguayan drug trafficker. He was arrested in Santa Cruz on 13 March 2026 and later extradited to the United States.
A source close to the US investigation told the news site Urgente.bo that Marset and other detainees had given Washington information. The unnamed source said “the case is bigger”, Opinión reported.
In a video now circulating in Bolivia, Marset claims that Mariaca passed him information. On Wednesday the Prosecutor’s Office denied a separate report that Mariaca met Marset before his extradition.
Late on Wednesday, Bolivian media also reported the arrest of Eduardo del Castillo, government minister under former president Luis Arce. Officials had not confirmed his identity, Opinión reported.
What comes next for Bolivia’s top prosecutor
Bolivia’s Legislative Assembly, the national Congress, is due to meet on 5 October to discuss the US visa decisions. Lawmakers had been debating whether Mariaca should resign or face trial in office, Opinión reported.
While some politicians urged him to resign, the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB), the main union federation, backed him on 29 September. It asked that Bolivia’s internal matters be settled by Bolivian institutions.
For residents and investors, the open question is institutional rather than personal. The country’s top prosecutor is in police custody, and no court order has been made public.
Police and government have yet to name the order, the charges and the place where the two prosecutors are held.
More: Bolivia news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who ordered the arrest of Bolivia’s attorney general?
By early 1 October 2026, no court, prosecutor or minister had said who ordered it. The Bolivian Police carried out the arrests at Viru Viru airport. The Public Prosecutor’s Office says the operation was illegal.
What is Roger Mariaca accused of?
On 28 September the US State Department said he took bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and help criminals evade justice. Bolivia has announced no charges against him. Mariaca rejects the accusations.
What happens next?
Police or government officials are expected to explain the legal basis for the arrests. Bolivia’s Legislative Assembly is due to meet on 5 October to discuss the US visa decisions.
Sources: RPP · El Comercio · El Comercio · Opinión · Opinión · Opinión · Opinión
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